 "Firefighters battle to contain Los Angeles wildfires as winds forecast to return")
Firefighters worked tirelessly on Saturday to contain rapidly spreading wildfires before strong winds are expected to return, potentially driving the flames toward iconic landmarks like the J. Paul Getty Museum and the University of California, Los Angeles. Meanwhile, new evacuation warnings have left more homeowners anxious.
A fierce battle against the flames was underway in Mandeville Canyon, home to Arnold Schwarzenegger and other celebrities not far from the Pacific coast, where swooping helicopters dumped water as the blaze charged downhill. Firefighters on the ground used hoses in an attempt to beat back leaping flames as thick smoke blanketed the chaparral-covered hillside.
Southern California has experienced a temporary break from the strongest winds over the past 24 hours, but winds are expected to intensify later on Saturday into the night, once again increasing the fire danger.
At a briefing, CalFire Operations Chief Christian Litz said a main focus Saturday would be the Palisades Fire burning in the canyon area, not far from the UCLA campus.
“We need to be aggressive out there,” Litz said.
The wildfires, which erupted earlier this week across Los Angeles County, continue to burn and are already projected to become one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history.
The blazes have claimed at least 11 lives and destroyed over 12,000 structures since Tuesday, ravaging entire neighborhoods, including those once home to multimillion-dollar estates.
Although it’s too soon to provide a definitive estimate of the financial damage, preliminary figures suggest the wildfires could be the most expensive in U.S. history. AccuWeather has estimated the damage and economic losses so far to be between $135 billion and $150 billion. For comparison, the damage caused by Hurricane Helene, which impacted six southeastern states last fall, was estimated by AccuWeather at $225 billion to $250 billion.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsOnly light breezes were fanning the flames, but the National Weather Service warned that locally strong Santa Ana winds — the nemesis of firefighters — could soon return. Those winds have been blamed for turning wildfires into infernos that leveled entire neighborhoods in the LA area, where there has been no significant rainfall in more than eight months.
The fire also was threatening to jump over Interstate 405, a main traffic artery through the area, which could become a gateway to densely populated areas in the Hollywood Hills and San Fernando Valley.
Even as the fires spread, the grim work of sifting through the devastation continued Saturday, with teams conducting systematic grid searches with cadaver dogs, said Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna. A family assistance center also was being set up in Pasadena, said Luna, who urged residents to abide by curfews.
With inputs from agencies.
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